E-readers ‘more effective’ for readers with Dyslexia

Short lines of text on electronic devices may help some dyslexic readers increase their reading speed and comprehension, research suggests.

US scientists studied 100 pupils reading on paper and e-readers. On the device, those who struggled most with sight-word reading read faster and those with limited visual attention spans had better comprehension.

The ability to display text in short lines with fewer words helped pupils focus on each word, they told Plos One.
“We think that could apply on paper, the blackboard or on any device.”

He said dyslexia came in many varieties, but some people may be helped by adjustments to the text that were visual in nature. “If people are struggling to read they may want to try to simply blow the text up in their small computer-like device to see if having fewer words helps,” he said.

Commenting on the study, the British Dyslexia Association said e-book formats and readers were more accessible as they had a large range of font, size, spacing and colour options. “They can also instantly provide definitions of words from built-in dictionaries,” a representative said. “Additional text-to-speech software can make them even more accessible and ensure that reading is less challenging and remove the stigma that is so often associated for those who can’t read.”

Well I suppose this is one up for those who are fans of technology. But I’m wary of how much I can read into this because this study was carried out by US scientists on only 100 children. This is far too small a sample to be representative of the huge population of children in the US, especially considering how commonly diagnosed Dyslexia is. I would like to see a larger scale study into this in both the US and the UK before I pass judgement.